Go to any coffee shop in the U.S., and you'll probably see a chai latte or "chai tea" on the menu. That sweetly spiced milky tea drink is most likely made from a powdered flavor mix or a carton of liquid "chai" concentrate. And while some of them can be sweet and satisfying, the truth is that the method for how to make chai is so much simpler—and more complex—than we think it is.

In fact, if you're drinking a cup of plain black tea right now, you're drinking chai. In India and countless other countries across Asia, "chai" (and other variants of the word) simply mean "tea," not the spiced sweet beverage we order off that chalkboard menu. Yep, "chai tea" essentially means "tea tea."

But if you add the word "masala" to "chai," you're definitely getting warmer (pardon the pun). "Masala" means a blend of spices, so black tea simmered with warm aromatic spices and balanced out with milk is known as "masala chai" in India, which is where we got our American idea of calling the drink "chai."

What's more, in India, "tea" means something different, too. As Monisha Bharadwaj, a chef, food historian, and cookbook author who runs an Indian cooking school in London, explained to me, while many people in England and the U.S. refer to herbal infusions like chamomile as "tea," in India "chai" always means the drink was made with black tea.

But while the tea is always black, the masala (aka spice blend) used to flavor the chai is endlessly customizable. There may be just one recipe for masala chai in Bharadwaj's gorgeous and comprehensive new cookbook The Indian Cooking Course, but she assured me that she could have included many more versions if there'd been room. Everyone has their own idea of how to make masala chai, Bharadwaj says: "There is no one blend...if you travel through India, masala chai could mean a variety of things: could mean any number of spices, or one or two spices—it's just spiced tea."

Since masala chai is such a popular everyday beverage in India, it's usually made with spices that people already have in their kitchens—maybe a sweet spice or two, like cardamom, clove, and cinnamon, plus other spices that work well with sweetness, like fennel seed, black peppercorns, and fresh ginger. Bharadwaj's favorite way to make it? "I actually put mint in mine, and ginger, cardamom, fennel. I think the mint just gives it that added freshness." Milk is always added to any kind of chai, Bharadwaj says, because "tea on its own is quite astringent, so to temper it down and even it out, milk is added." The sugar is optional, but "the average Indian has quite a sweet tooth" so chai is often simmered with sugar in the pot as well.

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Cardamom pods, black peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon sticks, fresh ginger, and black tea are just some of the things you can use to make great masala chai.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Ali Nardi

1. Choose Your Own Spices

To make your own masala chai at home, start by choosing your spices. Whole spices are best for chai, since they release their flavor without clouding the tea or adding a gritty texture, and they strain out easily when you're finished simmering your masala chai. To get extra flavor, toast the spices a bit first (you can do that right in the pot you're going to make your masala chai in) then crush them a bit or at least bang at them with the back of wooden spoon to help the flavors release into the tea. Start with a scant teaspoon of spices you can fit in a measuring spoon, and just one or two pieces of big spices like cinnamon sticks and ginger slices—and adjust the next batch to suit your taste even more.

Ready to choose your spices? Start with this shortlist: Each spice has its own benefit for "aroma and health," according to Bharadwaj. Sliced fresh ginger is traditionally used to boost immunity and fight colds, and fragrant cardamom will help warm you up. Fennel seeds are good for digestion, and lend a nice anise note of flavor. Cloves are also good for warming you up, while cinnamon is "good for sugar imbalances" and of course its pleasant aroma. Black pepper is also good for your digestion, and Bharadway says that the Indian palate likes "that kind of kick that you get in tea with black pepper."

2. Don't Steep, Simmer

Unlike Western tea brewing, you don't make real Indian masala chai by merely pouring boiling water over the spices. Instead, the water is boiled with the spices, Bharadwaj explains. "That way all the flavors truly infuse into the water." Bharadwaj likes to simmer the black tea leaves in the pot, too, but you can also just add them to the pot off the heat once the spices have infused the water to your liking.

To start your pot of masala chai, combine your spices with equal parts water and milk (about 1 cup total per serving) and bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling, bring it down to a simmer and add black tea: One tea bag or spoonful of loose tea per serving will do. Let it simmer until the liquid is nicely colored and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Stir in some sugar or honey to taste if desired, then strain it into cups to serve.

In India, a fragrant cup of masala chai is considered a very good pairing with a crunchy, fritter-like snack like onion bhajias with spicy green cilantro chutney alongside, Bharadwaj says. "Especially in the monsoon! My God, the first monsoon arrives and people in India think 'OK, it's time for bhajias and masala chai.'" For those of us without monsoon season, it's also a great winter drink, of course. In fact, I could use a cup right now.